This is the first in a series of posts that will lay the foundation for my blog Finding the Beloved. I pray that this will minister to your heart today.

There is this Bible passage that not many people talk about, but it happens to be one of my favorites. I love it because it is beautiful and poetic, but also because it holds the answer to some of the deepest questions we all have in our hearts. Questions like these: What is the meaning of life? What is my purpose? Why was I born in this family? Why was I born in this culture? Why am I going through the challenges that I have in my life? Here is the full passage:

From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. ²⁷ God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. ²⁸ ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’

-the Apostle Paul, Acts 17:26-28

The answer to the above questions is found in verse 27: God did this SO THAT we “would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him.” The details and circumstances of our lives are designed to bring us to find God, whom I call the Beloved.

What All of This Means

I dug into the original Greek words used in these verses to understand the deeper meaning. The word used for “seek” implies desire which expresses itself in diligent searching, even to the point of requiring or demanding an answer.  To “reach out” means to “to feel or grope about”, which expresses the movement of the hands over a surface in order to “feel” something. The image given here is of someone groping around in the dark, diligently reaching out to find something that they really need.

All of this communicates some very important things. First, this tells us something significant about what God is like. He is obviously very personal to be planning and orchestrating the details of each of our lives like this. This means that He knows each one of us intimately. It also says that He wants to be known by us in return. We can know from all of this that God, the Creator of all things, desires an intimate relationship with the people that He has made. Knowing this is a life-changer because when we understand the heart of God in this way, we can humble ourselves and reach out for this relationship that He is making available to us.

Secondly, this gives meaning and purpose to everything that we go through, especially the difficult things that we don’t understand. When we unpack the deeper meaning of some of the words in the passage as I did above, we see that it implies someone searching out of desperation.

Quite often, it takes going through adversity to put us in touch with our need for God. We also become more aware of His presence, so we reach out and begin to search deeply for Him.

Notice that verse 27 also says, “he is not far from any one of us.” This means that God is right there, close by and accessible. He wants to be found and known. Even though this is true, we often don’t recognize His presence until our hearts are softened and made sensitive through challenging circumstances. He waits for our hearts to be ready for Him and for us to reach out.

No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him [giving him the desire to come to Me]; and I will raise him up [from the dead] on the last day.

-Jesus Christ, John 6:44, Amplified Bible

This Applies in All Stages of Faith

When Paul spoke the words that we read in Acts 17:26-28, he was speaking to a bunch of Greek philosophers who did not know Jesus. However, the principles that I am sharing here are just as applicable for Christ-followers, even for those who have been walking with Him for a long time. This is because meeting Jesus for the first time is only the beginning of a relationship with God. Knowing Him is a progressive experience that unfolds over time as we choose to seek Him over and over again.

As I shared above, it is often the difficult circumstances that bring people to search for and find the Beloved. The same is true when it comes to deepening our relationship with Him. As Christ-followers, we go through times of darkness and trials in life as much as anyone else, if not more so. In everything we face, we have a continual choice to reach out for Jesus and find Him.

Embracing the Divine Opportunity

I believe that the deepest need and longing of every human heart is to know and connect with God. I am also convinced that everything we experience in life, from the deepest pain to the highest joy, is meant to lead us to discover more of who God is and to enjoy a deeper love relationship with Him. Knowing this allows us to see every life experience as an opportunity.  However, embracing this opportunity is a choice. We can allow our life situation to open our hearts to God and draw closer to Him, or we can allow the same situation to push us away from God. 

When we embrace this opportunity to find God and experience Him, it is beyond worth it. There is nothing on earth that compares to knowing Him. He alone can satisfy the deepest longings of our hearts. I call Him Beloved, because He is the ultimate lover of our soul. He knows us better than we know ourselves, and still, He loves us more than anyone else ever could. With Him we can share the most intimate kind of love, the love of our soul being joined to His.

This is what it means to find the Beloved. This is the reason for your existence. This is the purpose hidden in your story, whatever the details of that story may be. This is why I have created this blog: To help you to recognize this divine opportunity. I pray that as you reach out and find the Beloved, that you will come to know in your heart that you are also His Beloved. And this changes everything. I have more that I will share in future posts about these things. For now, here is an exercise that you can do that will help you reach out for the Beloved now.

Put it into Practice

One of the simplest ways to reach for the Beloved is through prayer. Find a quiet place where you won’t be disturbed. Talk to God about what is going on in your life. You might find it helpful to write everything down in a journal as a letter to God. Tell Him how you feel, even if some of those feelings seem “ugly”. Be honest with Him about your fears, doubts and desires. Now, invite God into the situation to help you. Tell Him how you want to know Him better through it. Ask Him to open your eyes to see what He is doing in your life. Write down what you feel like He is showing you. Tell Him thank you.

If you need help, here is a prayer that you can pray. Feel free to change it and make it your own:

Dear Heavenly Father,

I bring to you my life and my heart. This is what is going on [Insert your situation and tell Him your concerns]. I feel [insert your innermost thoughts and feelings]. Please forgive me, Father, for any way I have distanced myself from You. [Share anything coming to mind that might that you know is getting in the way of your relationship with Him]. Please soften my heart, so I can feel Your love for me and see where You are right now. I desire a deeper relationship with You. Please meet me here and help me to know You better through this. Come and transform all of this to work out for my good. Thank You for what You are doing, even if I can’t see it all right now. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

If you feel stuck, talk these things over with a Christian friend that you trust. Ask them to pray with you.

Ask and keep on asking and it will be given to you; seek and keep on seeking and you will find; knock and keep on knocking and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who keeps on asking receives, and he who keeps on seeking finds, and to him who keeps on knocking, it will be opened.

Matthew 7:7-12, The Amplified Bible

Did you enjoy this post? I think you will also enjoy the post: How to Wait on the Lord.

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